Fred Thomas [MERGED] (1 Viewer)

[oldschool]

Saints don't swap CBs, and it's a defensive philisophy I don't agree with...in today's case, not sure it matters. I think TJ would have did the same thing that Chad did...

Also, a lot of those "burns" were high risk/high reward plays depending on collapsing the pocket and getting pressure, which we didn't do...against a seriously banged up line...

It is very difficult for corners to swap fields. It is rarely done nowadays. Something to do with corners being so used to seeing the field from one angle, switching would be like learning a new position. I've seldomly seen this done on any NFL team except Denver with Bailey. Even with Bailey, they seldomly do this. I've said before, #1 WR don't necessary lined up against best cover guy, they get their yards against the best mismatch. If Fred would have played better against Chad, they would have adjusted, and pick on someone else. MM. Another nickel corner. A dime corner. A safety. A linebacker. Offense will find a mismatch, and they'll get their yards. The best a defense can do is roll more coverage and/or bring more heat.

 

[oldJC.SAINTS]

Fred Thomas got owned today. Guy got burnt on every other play. It was horrible. The dude is slow too. Why in the hell wasn't Makenzie covering Chad Johson?

MM is LCB.

Thomas looked really helpless coming back from injury.... Despite his poor showing that that's another game we "coulda won".

I am wondering if Peyton will make some changes in the secondary ? Do we have backups with starting potential (Scott, Groce, Deloatch) ? Would u think that could only hurt cohesion to bench some of guys that late in the season ?

 

[CHI-TOWNSAINT]

If MM would have had the day Thomas had, this thread would be 10 pages long by now!

Thomas =overrated by many on this board

 

[SaintsFanInNY]

On one of Johnson's TD's Freddy covered him quite well. The pressure on the QB never materialized and this allowed Palmer and Johnson to improvise and Freddy "got burnt". Even the best corner will only be able to stick his man for a little while, eventually the pressure needs to become a sack. I am not excusing Freddy for everything, but sometimes what we see as one person's fault may not be the entire truth.

 

[saintology1]

Wierd postgame comments from Fred:

"I'm out there on an island. I'm here for a reason. I'm here to make plays. I'm one of my own worst critics and I don't need anybody to kick me in the butt. The guy (Carson Palmer) makes plays. The quartaerback threw the ball where he needed to put it and he made plays. He came out and had a heck of a day and he made those plays."

"I didn't make plays today. It's truly one of the worst games of my career. I'm an older guy. I got to put that behind me and make plays."

Fred knows he messed up today. I think he is a step behind now that he tweaked his hammy. Hopefully he will bounce back next week, as his assignments will be much easier. We all know he is a capable #2 CB.

To the person writing the saints postgame quotes on neworleanssaints.com: SPELLCHECK anyone?

 

[Mamba]

Wierd postgame comments from Fred:

To the person writing the saints postgame quotes on neworleanssaints.com: SPELLCHECK anyone?

It's "weird."

 

[Big_Red]

MM is LCB.

Thomas looked really helpless coming back from injury.... Despite his poor showing that that's another game we "coulda won".

I am wondering if Peyton will make some changes in the secondary ? Do we have backups with starting potential (Scott, Groce, Deloatch) ? Would u think that could only hurt cohesion to bench some of guys that late in the season ?

Peyton has got to make changes. I'm not sure what you're saying with the "MM is a LCB".....I just know he is the BEST CB on the team and he needs to be lined up with the best WR opposite of him. I don't care what the situation is .....if he can cover Randy Moss back in his Green Bay days then he damn sure can cover Chad Johnson. He's a much better corner than Fred thomas.

 

[saintfan-n-alex]

so the idea of FT being a top 10 CBin the NFL is not true? lol


one issue we are having is with safties having to play the run so much, they have to choose between backing up the LBs in run support vs backing up the CB's

though if we would have scored on those INTs in the red zone and built a lead we could have tried to run more and slow the game down - wouldnt have helpd the defense as much other than keeping them off the feild.

 

[BoNcHiE]

Peyton has got to make changes. I'm not sure what you're saying with the "MM is a LCB".....I just know he is the BEST CB on the team and he needs to be lined up with the best WR opposite of him. I don't care what the situation is .....if he can cover Randy Moss back in his Green Bay days then he damn sure can cover Chad Johnson. He's a much better corner than Fred thomas.

I think everyone agrees with you, but alas thats just not how it works. CB's play sides of the field. Just how it works. Thats why its so important to have 2 good CB's in this league. This is why there are so many number 2 corners being cut this year or benched.

I salivate of us getting a Nate Clement level CB in FA next year. Can't wait.

 

[smokey29]

IF I WAS PAYTON I WOULD SIGN A CB IN FREEAGENCY THAN TRUN AROUND IN DRAFT ONE IN SECOND OR THIRD ROUND And some the older coners who do not step up in camp would be shown the highway just like stallworth was done

 

[SaintJ]

IMO Thomas is playing a little nicked up, and at this age and stage of career, it's just harder to play through and be effective. We could have used more of a pass rush today, and, other than the TD when Freddy got caught peeking into the backfield and Johnson got away from him, he had precious little help against one of the absolute best big-play WR in the game, and it showed.

However, we've also got to point out that none of our opponents ever really looks to attack the left side of our defense in the passing game. Almost all the damage is on the right side. Clearly, we need Harper back, we need Bullocks to show real improvement (I'm not super impressed right now), and we need some youth and atleticism at the position, because Freddy's not getting any younger or faster.

Freddy's a Saint, and he's a battler, and I'm pulling like mad for him to heal up a little and show us what he can do down the stretch. I don't think, honestly, that sticking Groce or DeLoach or Scott or Phillips (Jason Craft, anyone?) out at LCB is the answer.

 

[BoNcHiE]

IMO Thomas is playing a little nicked up, and at this age and stage of career, it's just harder to play through and be effective. We could have used more of a pass rush today, and, other than the TD when Freddy got caught peeking into the backfield and Johnson got away from him, he had precious little help against one of the absolute best big-play WR in the game, and it showed.

However, we've also got to point out that none of our opponents ever really looks to attack the left side of our defense in the passing game. Almost all the damage is on the right side. Clearly, we need Harper back, we need Bullocks to show real improvement (I'm not super impressed right now), and we need some youth and atleticism at the position, because Freddy's not getting any younger or faster.

Freddy's a Saint, and he's a battler, and I'm pulling like mad for him to heal up a little and show us what he can do down the stretch. I don't think, honestly, that sticking Groce or DeLoach or Scott or Phillips (Jason Craft, anyone?) out at LCB is the answer.

Are they the answer...probably not. But you can't get any worse then what we have right now on the left side. Might as well rotate those young guys in and see what they can do.

 

[cruize]

I see it all the time. Cornerbacks letting someone run by them and guarding turf. The QB isn't going to throw to the turf. He's going to throw to the guy you let run by you. Safeties are safeties for a reason. They don't have the coverage ability or speed to be cornerbacks. The Saints need to man up and keep the WR's in front of them. They don't have the ability to do anything else.

 

[MJ in Calif]

I think we all know where the weakness is on the defense. Everyone was calling out McKenzie but it's Thomas all along and has been. What's frustrating me right now is that the D-coord knows where the weak points are and should be rolling coverage to that side of the field and giving him safety help. For some reason, that is not happening. Why? Where the hell is Bullocks? Furthermore, where is the pass rush, the blitz packages? There needs to be more blitzes thrown to prevent the QB from setting up in the pocket to complete those long passes. Why are they leaving Fred Thomas out on an island like that when they know he is the weak link? I'm just not sure what the Saints are trying to do on defense.

 

[BayouCajun]

Got to face the facts. Teams are going to constantly go after Fred Thomas who gets burned often. Cb is a big need area that has to be addressed.